After the walk, more than 500 donors attended the Victory Lap brunch in Rockford to raise money for local breast cancer support. Now in it’s seventh year, Victory Lap has raised more than $80,000.

The event is sponsored by the Rockford Register Star and was started by Judy Emerson, a breast cancer survivor. The money raised by the event has gone to the area’s three hospitals, support groups such as Healing Pathways and the American Cancer Society, and helped cancer patients pay for prescriptions and gas.

This year’s raffle winner, Dawn Young, originally of Syracuse, New York, donated her $685 in winnings back to the group.

“Somebody needs that more than I do,” she said.

Volunteers plan to use the money raised this year to help local women get access to mammograms.

“Anybody who’s been there knows that you only get through it with the support of your family and friends,” Emerson said. “So this event is as much about supporting each other as it is about raising money.”